Soldier called 'Paki' by Prince Harry believes Harry is not a racist

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

Haha, as usual the left-wing media blow a small incident like this out of proportion, and to add insult to injury, the victim says he believes Prince Harry is not a racist. Now all those stupid newspapers calling Harry a racist should all apologise on their front page, admitting their guilt.

Speaking for the first time about the incident, Ahmed Raza Khan, a captain in the Pakistan Army, denied the Prince was racist.

He also revealed, in an interview with the Sun newspaper, that Prince Harry had personally phoned him to apologise but said he had "no hard feelings".

The 24-year-old said: "The Prince called me by a nickname which is usually very insulting, but I know he didn't mean it that way. He phoned me to apologise and I have no hard feelings. We need to close this chapter now.

"When I spoke to Harry he told me he never meant what people may think about the so-called nickname and I believe him.

"We were close friends when we were training and I know he is not a racist. I have no reason to take up the issue again.

"Since he has apologised, I would say, let bygones be bygones."

Prince Harry and the other cadets were on their way to exercises in Cyprus when he made the racist comment during filming in the airport departure lounge.

Captain Khan was one of 440 elite cadets from his country chosen to spend 10 months training alongside Harry at Sandhurst military academy, between 2005 and 2006.

He said: "I was never made to feel uncomfortable because of my colour. I made lots of good friends. We all respected each other and that's what our training was about – to make us good human beings and good officers.

"When I went to Sandhurst I didn't know I would be training with Prince Harry but when I met him, it was a good feeling. He is a really nice guy."

 

[PeterCH]

Haha, as usual the left-wing media blow a small incident like this out of proportion, and to add insult to injury, the victim says he believes Prince Harry is not a racist. Now all those stupid newspapers calling Harry a racist should all apologise on their front page, admitting their guilt.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...there-are-no-hard-feelings-after-apology.html

The man said "although this is usually insulting" he knew that Harry "was not like that" bla bla. The issue goes beyond this particular incident but the behaviour of the future head of the British Royal Family. Like it or not, Pakistanis and other non-European source people are part and parcel of the UK. Part of the reason why some of these foreign sourced UK citizens become terrorists is because they feel sidelined or as outsiders. The future head of the government and leader of the nation should watch every word he says especially in public functions or where more than one other person is present. With great power comes great responsibility.

I'd understand this if some skinhead yob called a Pakistani origin British citizen (or subject) a "paki" but for a prince to do that is a serious faux pais.
His standing, responsibility and level of education should be such that his behaviour should be impeccable.

 

[PeterCH]

Dominic, something else. Please don't link the whole quoted statement. It was impossible to copy/paste anything out of it as the entire quote becomes a giant link. Thanks.

 

[semiautomatix]

The man said "although this is usually insulting" he knew that Harry "was not like that" bla bla. The issue goes beyond this particular incident but the behaviour of the future head of the British Royal Family. Like it or not, Pakistanis and other non-European source people are part and parcel of the UK. Part of the reason why some of these foreign sourced UK citizens become terrorists is because they feel sidelined or as outsiders. The future head of the government and leader of the nation should watch every word he says especially in public functions or where more than one other person is present. With great power comes great responsibility.

I'd understand this if some skinhead yob called a Pakistani origin British citizen (or subject) a "paki" but for a prince to do that is a serious faux pais.
His standing, responsibility and level of education should be such that his behaviour should be impeccable.

This is the army. If you've been you know pleasantries and being PC are few and insults many. If he wants respect from his fellow cadets he needs to be just like them regardless of where they come from, and a great many are not from royalty or the rich.

 

[STS]

just out of interest, how would you feel if the "left-wing media blew a small incident like this out of proportion" over something Zuma said?

what you say reveals your character, i fail to see how people can say something without thinking it or believing it

 

[PostmanPot]

Dominic, something else. Please don't link the whole quoted statement. It was impossible to copy/paste anything out of it as the entire quote becomes a giant link. Thanks.

Tried highlighting from outside of the quote?

 

[PeterCH]

Tried highlighting from outside of the quote?

Sure that works, but then I get the whole block of text selected, where all I wanted was one sentence. It's just neater to do things the way rpm does them. Copy/pasta a single line (or whole thing if you will) and put a link after the quote. Ideally the link should be the printable copy.

 

[semiautomatix]

Sure that works, but then I get the whole block of text selected, where all I wanted was one sentence. It's just neater to do things the way rpm does them. Copy/pasta a single line (or whole thing if you will) and put a link after the quote. Ideally the link should be the printable copy.

Mmmm... bacon cabonara!

 

[PeterCH]

This is the army. If you've been you know pleasantries and being PC are few and insults many. If he wants respect from his fellow cadets he needs to be just like them regardless of where they come from, and a great many are not from royalty or the rich.

It's the future king of England. The army is not about jokes, insults or other nonsense, it's about getting a job done in hopefully the most optimal manner.

The prince has to act like royalty, he not only represents himself, and the throne of Great Britain but also every British subject. Either he is poorly educated and doesn't know how to behave or he really is a racist. If it's the former it's an insult towards his office (and his ancestors), if its the latter
then he should at least pretend he's not racist and keep his private opinions private. It's the same with Sarkozy telling a voter who refused to shake his hand to f-off. That was captured on camera. A head of state or future head of state is held to much higher standards then the rest of us, and racial (or any other) slurs should not be exercised by anyone either but especially NOT a head of state. Especially in Britain among the higher circles people try to act the part: if the head of the British Medical Association had called a doctor or God forbid--a patient, a 'paki' at a prize-giving for example,
he no doubt would have had to apologise and may even have been removed from the said position.

It's not even a left wing thing, who are happy to use words such as 'imperialist', 'bourgeois' and denigrate all wealthier people and the opposition.
It's an old fashioned idea and goes beyond the excessive PC BS we hear today - but a lord has to act lordly, ie a gentleman is a gentleman and if he doesn't behave as such he is not a gentleman.

 

[PeterCH]

Mmmm... bacon cabonara!

Which reminds me of Italian prosciutto ham . I usually put it
in sushi though .

 

[koffiejunkie]

Why is abbreviating "Australian" to "Aussie" and "South African" to "Saffa" or calling Americans "Yanks" perfectly OK, but abbreviating "Pakistani" to "Paki" considered a racial slur?

 

[Alan]

Why is abbreviating "Australian" to "Aussie" and "South African" to "Saffa" or calling Americans "Yanks" perfectly OK, but abbreviating "Pakistani" to "Paki" considered a racial slur?

loony PC plods will have to explain it to you. The reasoning for it being considered a slur probably has something to do with mental anguish caused by decades of dealing with 'white guilt'

 

[koffiejunkie]

I think people who take offence at being reffered to in such an innocent way are just insecure about who they are and stuck in the rut feeling sorry for themselves rather than sorting out the problems that keep them there.

 

[Alan]

I think people who take offence at being reffered to in such an innocent way are just insecure about who they are and stuck in the rut feeling sorry for themselves rather than sorting out the problems that keep them there.

+1

Then again most of the outrage doesn't come from the supposed victims of the slur

 

[PeterCH]

Why is abbreviating "Australian" to "Aussie" and "South African" to "Saffa" or calling Americans "Yanks" perfectly OK, but abbreviating "Pakistani" to "Paki" considered a racial slur?

Well I would gather that it's to do with if you're offended or not.
Yanks aren't usually offended.

It's also about who was traditionally in the position of power.
Historically, Westerners have colonised the Americas, Africa, parts of Asia, Australia and the Middle East. They were the ones who were in charge and
frankly WE Westerners or Caucasians have never really showed much respect
for local cultures and people - the ones we colonised. Only recently - in the last 30-40 years have people become - at least in the media - more tolerant towards other cultures especially non-European ones (we know how
intolerant Europeans are towards each other - just 50 years ago we were
shooting white civilians in the streets and burning them in ovens, the people who did that did not come from the moon, the roots of those prejudices are still with us). Racial or ethnic slurs may be a throwback to the days when a Black person was a N...
or a K... and a darker person was a C.... and so on, and they were so officially. The titles afforded to these people weren't only symbolic but
signified their reduced standing in society.

 

[PeterCH]

I think people who take offence at being reffered to in such an innocent way are just insecure about who they are and stuck in the rut feeling sorry for themselves rather than sorting out the problems that keep them there.

I think what you said implies that you think that racist perceptions are true.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I think what you said implies that you think that racist perceptions are true.

I think some cultural perceptions are often true. And that the truth hurts. I have also seem, over and over, how people would continue to feel sorry for them selves and blame everyone else for whatever it is that's not right, while doing nothing to break the cycle, even when they're staring opportunties in the face. I've also seen people continue feeling sorry for themselves and laying blame, even if the problem no longer exists. There's comfort in self pity. It's hard to kick the habit...

 

[PeterCH]

I think some cultural perceptions are often true. And that the truth hurts. I have also seem, over and over, how people would continue to feel sorry for them selves and blame everyone else for whatever it is that's not right, while doing nothing to break the cycle, even when they're staring opportunties in the face. I've also seen people continue feeling sorry for themselves and laying blame, even if the problem no longer exists. There's comfort in self pity. It's hard to kick the habit...

So when a westerner calls a middle-easterner a 'raghead' or a 'towelhead' or something or a 'sand-n' (naughty word), you think the latter can get rid of that 'stigma' by not wearing head coverings or moving out of the sand and bleaching their skin? Will primitive people who use this language really think higher of these people if they do these things? Does it really even matter what these primitives think? That's why I'm not for forcing what primitives (racists) think but for having guidelines what you can say and do in public or to another person.

I also think it's easy to say "get out of your ghetto" and "go to school" and become a "lawyer" but when you look different and have much racial/cultural stigmata attached to you it's definitely not easy to succeed in a foreign world, especially certain cultures which are themselves already divided along social lines - nobility vs serfs. Are you not perhaps making the mistake of assuming that these people who look different and come from different cultures have the same chances that you being from South Africa yet also caucasian Anglo-saxon in an English-ruled country, have? Sometimes you need to step into another person's shoes.

Oh I agree that some people abuse the 'racism' argument - especially when they are at home and are part of the ruling elite - this is often the case with the ANC and numerous African despots at home but when it comes to being a second generation foreigner who looks different, things are often not as simple.

 

[PeterCH]

+1

Then again most of the outrage doesn't come from the supposed victims of the slur

Alan surely a future king who has been educated in Oxford or Cambridge, is capable of some tact and has had some of that education stick so as to know at least that "Paki" is derogatory. If I was a British subject, I would be embarrassed. People often refer to the gaffes committed by poor George W Bush but here is Prince Harry - first with a swastika some years ago, now with this. I'm pretty sure Prince Harry is not a racist - but his remark shows that he either has no tact or has no sensibilities or hopefully doesn't show that the expensive education he received was wasted. Remember when you're a prince, PM or president you not only speak for yourself but for your office and even the entire country. Its a tough life and that's one of the drawbacks of belonging to the ruling royal family. You have to be careful WHAT you say and not just about race but many other subjects. He shouldn't make homophobic statements, religious statements, political statements, cultural statements etc.

 

[koffiejunkie]

PeterCH, you asked me a very broad question, I have you a very broad answer. I never condoned the prince's comments, or anyone else using offensive terms.